Wal-Mart’s Q3 earnings, reported minutes ago, were a masterclass in bottom-line fudgery.
While the company reported a slightly better US comp store sales (ex-fuel even though the fuel impact was none for the quarter), higher than the 0.0% expected, and up from -0.3% a year ago, it appears this was largely due to further liquidations and profit-eating discounts. Because the all important datapoint, the company’s EPS did beat expectations by 3 cents at $1.15, the following line that was snuck into the press release explains it all: